The COVID-19 pandemic created a crisis that led to innovation for Fayette EMS, which redesigned its community paramedicine program to serve locals in their homes.
“The whole idea is to keep people healthier at home,” said Fayette EMS Chief Rick Adobato.
The pandemic-era redesign had a goal of treating residents before they needed emergency services. It launched Jan. 4 through a contract with Highmark Wholecare.
Community paramedics visit patients at their homes, connect them to doctors virtually through telemedicine, perform follow-up care after a patient is discharged from the hospital, screen for problems through blood draws and other services, and perform simple but potentially lifesaving tasks like organizing pills.
“We believe that this is the wave of the future,” Adobato said.
Fayette EMS first launched a community paramedicine program in 2018 through a partnership with Fayette County Drug & Alcohol to help get overdose patients into treatment. They are planning to augment that program to also work with Fayette County Children & Youth Services in programs for pregnant mothers who are addicted to drugs.
“A lot of these programs have the common end goal to get ahead of issues that could cause higher expenditures, not only to insurance company, but to the community,” said Bob Topper, Fayette EMS administrative director.
He said the program is a “true team effort,” and thanked Fayette EMS community paramedic and educational coordinator Rick D’Auria for overseeing the efforts.
Four full-time specialists with advanced degrees serve in the program, in addition to a part-time staff member. Adobato said the program was appealing to the specialists who were hired outside of Fayette EMS.
“Interestingly we’ve attracted staff that were wanting to do something a little different, because it’s new, unique and a lot of people like a challenge,” Adobato said.
He said with many locals facing transportation problems and a need for basic care, the program is a way to meet those needs without placing a burden on Fayette EMS workers.
“It’s something we’ve kind of done all along, so this just fit right in,” he said. “It’s still in its infancy, and it’s doing good things, really good things.”
He expects the program to grow with more insurance companies signing contracts for the program.
“(I)t’s bursting at the seams already,” he said.
Topper said the program subsidizes Fayette EMS, which is a nonprofit organization.
“We had to find a way to subsidize (emergency medical services). Instead of making it smaller, we decided to go in the opposite direction and expand into other areas,” Adobato said.
That income stream will be necessary with inflation and higher fuel costs, he said. The fuel bill by the end of February 2020 was $18,000, he said, and at the end of February 2022, it was $40,000. He expects their annual fuel budget will be exceeded by June.
Federal, state and local grants and local organizations filled in gaps for Fayette EMS during the pandemic. Topper said call volumes plummeted in 2020, which led to little income. At the same time, Fayette EMS personnel were tasked with moving patients from overburdened hospitals.
During COVID-19 surges, he said nearly all of their 911 calls were for COVID-19 patients.
“It was literally one after another after another – difficulty breathing, COVID positive, had all the covid symptoms – we got just absolutely hammered. Our crews were exhausted. The hospitals were flooded,” he said.
Disinfecting equipment after a call from a COVID-19 patient lengthened a 30-minute call to about 50 minutes, he said.
Adobato noted that there was a “break” with COVID-19 going into the summer of 2021, followed by surges in the fall and winter.
“I have a sneaking suspicion that this isn’t over. There’s been a whole lot of death,” he said. “But who knows. This thing is an unknown. Everyone has been guessing from day one, and they’re still guessing. I can tell you, our staff is exhausted. There are only so many hours you can work in a week.”
Several Fayette EMS members also contracted COVID-19, he said.
Topper and Adobato said community support helped give employees a boost to keep going. Over the holidays, he said the station was filled with donated food.
“It was heartfelt. Our crews really appreciated that,” Topper said.
Adobato said he was proud of his employees for meeting the challenges they faced.
“I couldn’t be more proud of our employees for what they did,” he said. “We’ve adapted. Our employees have been absolutely amazing. They went the extra mile every day.”
At the end of March, Adobato said their calls had nearly returned to pre-pandemic levels.
He said he hopes that the severity of the variants continues to decrease.
“It’s been a trying two years,” he said. “We’ve got a little light at the end of the tunnel, but we’ll see.”
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Originally Appeared Here